For as long as there have been amusement table games, there have been efforts on the part of certain people who wish to use the amusement game table to play the game without the payment of the required fee.
Previous solutions for this type of problem have either been relatively expensive, or easily defeated. For example, for shuffleboard type table games there is known in the art a mechanism that does not release the shuffleboard pucks to the player until the fee is deposited, and then does not return the puck to the player once the game is completed. Similarly, for bowling table-type games, a bowling ball will not be released to the player until the fee is deposited, and then after a certain number of frames, the ball will not be returned to the player.
Other blocking mechanisms for “shuffleboard-type” games are known, but may be easily forced from their closed position to their open position, allowing the games to be played without the patrons paying.
For the above reasons, those skilled in the art continue to search for a simple and less expensive solution to the problems in the art.